Suspected Detroit terror attacker was head of UCL’s Islamic Society, it has been revealed. According to the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, who graduated from UCL with a degree in Engineering and Business Finance, served as the President of the University’s Islamic Society between 2006 and 2007. In a recent...
Read more »
Archive for December, 2009
Detroit bomber was president of UCL’s Islamic Society
Don’t worry: your university is not trying to kill you
Yesterday, I wrote: “Following Mutallab’s alleged actions, there will probably be a purported crackdown on ‘extremism’ within universities.” Today, as predicted, the Daily Telegraph contains an editorial jumping on this bandwagon, pointing the finger at universities for failing to fight Islamism. Its headline is the completely reasonable: “Academic liberalism is a danger to life”....
Read more »
UCL student accused of plane bomb plot in the USA
A student at University College, London is in custody after reportedly attempting to blow up a plane in the USA. Thankfully Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab was studying engineering and not pyrotechnics: his explosives failed to go off and he ended up burning just his own legs. More here. Following Mutallab’s alleged actions, there will...
Read more »
Heads roll at the Student Loans Company
After months of incompetence and thousands of students stranded at university without any money, two members of the Student Loans Company have resigned. The man who oversaw the entire sorry operation remains, however. The two who took the buck were Wallace Gray, the SLC’s ICT director, and Martin Herbert, the marketing and customer services...
Read more »
My degree? It’s just an overpriced swimming certificate…
Congratulations! It’s been a hell of a ride but you’ve done it! You’ve negotiated the potentially hazardous route from undergraduate to graduate, stopping off at the somewhat superfluous graduand on route. What next? Photos outside the arts block, hugs from loved ones and a quick exercise in hat catching before you are flung out...
Read more »
A rose by any other name: is a university’s name important?
What do Anglia Ruskin, Edge Hill, Aston and Heriot-Watt all have in common? They are all universities in the UK that are part of a dwindling group of institutions in which their name gives no clue as to its location. So often university names are based on the city in which they are located....
Read more »
Government want students to do community service – and pay for it themselves
David Lammy, the Minister for Innovation, Universities and Skills, has this week come out in support of a scheme for compulsory civic service for students. Based on a report by the think tank Demos, university students would be required to complete 100 hours of community service in return for the state subsidy of their...
Read more »
Why shouldn’t medics and engineers pay higher fees?
According to Lord Browne’s report into tuition fees a degree is now worth ‘just’ £2,500 a year to ‘graduates’. This equates to £100,000 over a lifetime, after tax. This figure, however, doesn’t include student debt. So, is university worth it, from a purely financial point of view when student debt is included?
Read more »
Grim times for graduates – but don’t lose faith
The above quote, by Britain’s favourite straggly-haired Irishman articulates perfectly the fear that many undergraduates have with regards to their job prospects. Ignore engineers and accountancy students, who seem swamped with offers. Ignore medics, who seem to bask in that ethereal glow of doing something that is a) difficult, b) helps mankind and c)...
Read more »
Website sells off desirable internships for charity
The Guardian’s Graduate section has a piece bemoaning the sale of internships and work experience. A charity, Pilotlight, have been selling placements with Channel 5 and the Daily Express, among others. (Let’s just ignore why on earth someone would want to work for either of these two companies, for now).
Read more »